Wednesday run around

Busy day! After witnessing a car fire at Trader Joes and then having to pick up a couple things for dinner I finally have a few minutes to post some recipes and what we ate tonight. I found some great herb mixed greens that I used for the salad and had to get some fresh mozzarella.

Tonight for dinner was Fresh Mozzarella, Sun-Dried Tomato, and Prosciutto strata. I served a side salad of greens, fresh berries, and candied walnuts in an Apple Cider dressing. The bread used in the strata was toasted Rosemary Focaccia. The pockets of gooey mozzarella complimented the prosciutto so well. If you would like to see a crisper picture, don't forget you can click on the image and it will bring a larger picture up!


Here are some of the recipes that have been requested. Please let me know if you have any questions - thanks again for visiting!

Broccoli & Cornmeal Kuchen

3 1/2 cups broccoli flowerets
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup cottage cheese
1 large egg
3 egg whites
1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk
2 TBS. butter, melted
4 tsp sugar

Cook the broccoli flowerets by your preferred method until tender-crisp. Immerse in ice water to cool and drain thoroughly.

In a large bowl, stir together cornmeal, flour, baking powder. In a small bowl, beat cottage cheese, buttermilk, egg, egg whites, butter and sugar until well blended. Add cheese mixture to flour mixture and stir just until dry ingredients are evenly moistened.

Pour batter into a greased round 8-inch baking pan or quiche dish. Gently press broccoli decoratively into batter. Bake in a 350 oven until center of kuchen feels firm when lightly pressed, about 30-40 minutes.

Let kuchen cool slightly, then cut into wedges


Peanut Butter-Nutella Brownies

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup good quality cocoa (I prefer penzeys)
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup Nutella
1/2 cup peanut butter


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a glass 9 by 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Melt the butter over very low heat; when melted remove from heat and gently pour into a large bowl. With a wooden spoon stir in the sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and whisk together. Combine the flour mixture slowly to the butter, sugar, and egg mixture – mix well.

Mix the peanut butter and Nutella in a small microwave safe bowl, and heat until it reaches a runny consistency. Stir the mixture into the batter; then pour it into the baking dish.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before cutting.